Editio Self-Publishing discussion

Can anyone share the name of a reputable self publishing company (short of CS, Lulu). I need my paperback formatted and placed in circulation. I am not a DIY person. I was considering BookLocker, just need more information on them.

https://draft2digital.com/ I think they do Createspace for you. What do you have against CS or Lulu?

Hi, Brenda:

I run a full-service book production company. We handle editing, book formatting, cover design, book packaging, and ebooks for self-publishing authors. We do all genres and have uploaded over 200 print-ready files to LightningSource, CreateSpace, and Amazon KDP.

Check out our LinkedIn profile for endorsements from former/current clients: http://linkd.in/1aoo8U2. Or send us an email at submissions@launchpad-press.com. We'd be happy to assist you!

Thomas

Steel whisper-it may seem odd, but I prefer a company with a different name. I used an independent local publisher the first time, but I spent twice as much as CS. CreateSpace sounds sooooo self published! Someone did tell me that I can use another name if I purchase the ISBN; however, CreateSpace's name will be inside the book. Silly me!

Well, in that case I'd simply buy the ISBN and be done. I think you can buy a large amount of them at the same as the base price or something. Also, if you set it up as your own publishing house that as well will be used instead.

Don't by the way count on it that anyone who cares about such things (the majority of readers don't at all) wouldn't know who is who and what is what. You'd still be advertising you are indie.

You are probably right. Most people ask if I am self-published (meaning DIY) or did I go through a traditional publisher.

Thanks from a lifelong learner!!!

I published my book through CreateSpace and their name is not inside the book. My publisher is listed as Kipling Books, a publisher name I created. I used the $10 ISBN option, which is between the free option and the $100 option.

I self published my work through Blurb.com I'm very proud of my work. I use Amazon for my ebooks. I also published my photography work through Blurb.com When I began to publish my work I was so happy, because finally I can say that my work is published. I didn't have to wait for anyone to approve my work. I write short story books. Some of the other self publishing companies wanted more pages, but Blurb.com doesn't restrict how many pages you can publish. Your books can be 20 pages and still your work is published. I'm very happy about this, because it gave me an opportunity to share all of my work.

Mine are CS and I was actually surprised at the high quality of the finished product. I have no complaints.

I like the idea of paying $10 for the ISBN. Now, I need a name for the publishing company. Every one that I have come up with is taken. Maybe I will have a contest. It's a self-help leadership genre. Title: Creating the Million Dollar Leader: 52 Inspirational Lessons to Attract the Life You Want.

Brenda if you are still looking, at fit the genre that we publish, may I recommend ours? www.darkhollowspress.com

I've heard of something called smashwords. I know a lot of people use it, although a few friends had bad experiences with it.

According to some people smash words is a bad site, i use Createspace and KDP Amazon for Kindle.

A. wrote: "According to some people smash words is a bad site, i use Createspace and KDP Amazon for Kindle."
Really? One of my friends said it was bad, but I wasn't sure. Knowing that a few people have the same opinion, I feel better about not using it. I have a question about createspace. If an e-book is priced at 2.99, how much do you make with the royalties? I thought I heard that createspace took a lot of the profit, but I wasn't sure.

Camryn wrote: "A. wrote: "According to some people smash words is a bad site, i use Createspace and KDP Amazon for Kindle."
Really? One of my friends said it was bad, but I wasn't sure. Knowing that a few people..."

For Normal priced books the minimum threshold is $4.69, and so if you price your book at lets say 14.99
the royalty would be 10.64 for the CS e-store, and 7.44 to Amazon since they work together.

Which is why I use KDP Amazon for E-books since CreateSpace is more for HardCover/Paperbacks.

On KDP the 2.99 equals $1.05 (35%)
You can choose between 35 or 70% royalty. ($2.08 = 70%)

Hope that made sense.

A. wrote: "Camryn wrote: "A. wrote: "According to some people smash words is a bad site, i use Createspace and KDP Amazon for Kindle."
Really? One of my friends said it was bad, but I wasn't sure. Knowing th..."
What is KDP? Thanks for your help :)

@Camryn
KDP stands for Kindle Direct Publishing. It publishes E-books for all platforms minus Nook since they are competition but there is probably a way around that.

A lot of people are under the misconception you actually NEED a kindle to read these books, when in fact Amazon makes it so much easier. You can read books on your PC, Tablet, Iphone, Android, and etc. Unlike the Nook.

(For Nook publishing I think the format needs to be in .mobi file. I'll have to figure that out for you.)

KDP is Kindle Direct Publishing.

Is Nook even a thing anymore? I wanted to make my book available on Nook, but it seems to be completely unsupported (at least, as far as our trying to use it). Also, the B&N stores here in town are shutting down. I'm not sure it's worth it to mess with it.

Regina wrote: "KDP is Kindle Direct Publishing.

Is Nook even a thing anymore? I wanted to make my book available on Nook, but it seems to be completely unsupported (at least, as far as our trying to use it). Al..."

A lot of people seem to still use them, but twice as many are using kindle. At least in my area.

A. wrote: "@Camryn
You can read books on your PC, Tablet, Iphone, Android, and etc. Unlike the Nook. "

Wrong. Nook also has a platform for all those devices including a tablet.

You really need to invest in an editor. There is so much more to an editor than punctuation. I'm speaking for a publishing point of view since I work for a publisher. Whether you hire an independent one or use one with an Indie press - editors ARE your friends.

Smashwords is not a bad place to publish. We get just as many sales from Smashwords as we do Amazon, because there is a rather large group of readers out there who dislike the tactics Amazon uses. Like it or not, that's a fact.

Re: NOOK vs Kindle, I published my first book exclusively on Kindle and got a modest response so I figured for my second book I'd put it up on NOOK also--well, I can tell you that I have gotten all of zero sales on NOOK and every copy sold was on Kindle. I am almost ready to publish a third novel and I am having serious reservations about bothering to put it out on NOOK. Also, any advice on how to find a good editor? I'm not even sure what a reasonable fee is for that service (for my first two novels I relied on a family member who used to edit for a magazine, but she is now involved in other unrelated projects).

What's bad about Smashwords? As far as I can see, they're a great distributor. Upload your book to Smashwords and you've got distribution to iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Nook, Diesel, and 5 or 6 more that I can't recall.

Brenda - with regard to non-DIY self-publishing, Lulu does offer services where you essentially hand over your manuscript and they do it all for you through various publishing packages. I personally have not used that service, I just know of it as I am on their site all the time.

For a DIY project:
I have used Smashwords for my eBook distribution for everything(Nook, Kobe, Diesel, iPad,etc) except Amazon/Kindle (because it is so easy to do it myself on KDP, why let SW take that part of my profit.) It can be a challenge to get the formatting right the first time or two around but it certainly gets easier and less time consuming with every project.

I use Lulu for my physical book distribution. I have had good sales through Amazon, and some sales through Lulu. I am learning that it takes awhile for your books to actually hit circulation, except for Amazon. Even when they are dropped into the distribution list there is a period of time before they are searchable through SEO bots.

Jonathan-David wrote: "What's bad about Smashwords?"

I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with Smashwords. I use their formatting guide as it works in many platforms.

That said, and I understand their Meatgrinder converter is no obsolete, I passed on SW because using the Meatgrinder gave SW proprietary rights for books published using their proprietary software. I didn't want to do that when I went to other venues so I used their formatting guide and went with D2D that had no such proprietary hold. Think of it as having a SW ISBN exclusive. Don't know if that's the case anymore.

I find createspace too cost prohibitive for a color book. Can anyone recommend a small press house on the east coast?